Joe Judge

New York Giants: Matt Rhule Says Agent Handled Negotiations With Giants

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New York Giants considering Matt Rhule for head coach.

Joe Judge came from behind to win the race to become the next  head coach of the New York Giants – in perhaps a quicker resolution than many expected. There was a lot of talk about how the Giants should interview Matt Rhule and consider him as one of the top options for their head coaching job, but that didn’t materialize according to what Rhule has said about taking the Carolina job.

He’s said that Carolina was the only team that he spoke to – they would, of course, win the competition to make Rhule their head coach.

His agent handled the talks with the Giants, who were set to interview Rhule in addition to the Panthers… But the Giants chose not to fight for Rhule and instead went with Joe Judge, who had impressed the front office in his own interview.

Was it the right move to let Rhule go to the Panthers without as much as pushing for an interview, especially with Rhule reportedly having a somewhat favorable stance towards joining the Giants?

That depends on how you look at it, mostly. There is a chance that the Giants will stay in their current spot while the Panthers turn around under the leadership of Rhule, who himself was a popular candidate because of his history turning programs around at the college level, but on the other hand Rhule might not have been what the Giants were looking for in the first place.

It’s important to remember that Rhule still only has a few of experience as the head coach at a major college, and the jump between mid-major colleges and the NFL is huge. In all likelihood, the Giants just preferred the head coaching candidate with a vision that impressed them and more NFL experience to back it up.

That’s not to say that Judge has the best credentials of any candidate himself, coming from the background of a special teams coordinator and transitioning right into being a head coach without coordinating the offense or the defense first, but Judge has earned high praise from two of the greatest head coaches of all time and that’s definitely worth something.

“Joe can probably coach any position on the field. He does an excellent job of teaching players. He thinks quickly and the game comes easy to him. He understands concepts, adjustments and fundamental technique,” Bill Belichick told Patriots Wire.

Nick Saban, the legendary head coach at Alabama, also had similar sentiments. “Joe is one of the brightest young coaches in our profession, and I think he will do a tremendous job as the head coach of the New York Giants. They are getting an extremely smart football coach who is very loyal, organized and diligent about getting the job done,” Saban said.

Will the Giants regret not meeting with Rhule face to face and only handling negotiations through his agent? Possibly, but it’s still too early to tell, and there’s no reason to believe right now that the Giants don’t have a bright future ahead of them with Judge. We can only see how both head coaches perform before determining if the Giants “missed out” this offseason.

Giants to Introduce Joe Judge as New Head Coach on Thursday

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New York Giants, Joe Judge

The New York Giants officially announced the hiring of Joe Judge as the 19th head coach in franchise history on Wednesday after noon. Judge will be introduced at a press conference at the Coach’s Club in MetLife Stadium at 2pm on Thursday.

The 38 year-old Judge “blew the Giants away” in his interview on Monday and they were smitten with his poise and knowledge. He was chosen over four other candidates: Dallas Cowboys defensive assistant Kris Richard; Eric Bieniemy, the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator; Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale and former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, who was named the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday.

“This was the deepest group of quality candidates I can recall, and Joe is as impressive a candidate as I have interviewed,”  said Giants CEO John Mara. “We met with Joe on Monday. We did have some other candidates lined up to speak with, but Joe had established the threshold at that point. He knows what winning looks like and should look like. His exposure and experience in New England and Alabama have helped shape his philosophy of building a winning program and culture. We are thankful that he has accepted the responsibility to lead our team.”

Chairman Steve Tisch met with Judge in Rhode Island this week and was equally won over.

“We had a great conversation, and Joe articulated his vision of leadership and team building. He clearly learned some valuable lessons in both those areas while working with Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. He is an impressive young leader, and as we said last week, he will have the full support of ownership to get us where we want to be.”

Judge, the New England Patriots wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator came highly recommended by the two greatest coaches in college and NFL history – Nick Saban and Bill Belichick – who he spent the last 11 years coaching under.

Judge was chosen by the Giants’ hiring committee which consists of Mara, Tisch, general manager Dave Gettleman and assistant GM Kevin Abrams.

I am humbled and honored,” Judge said in a statement released by the team. “I want to thank John Mara, Steve Tisch, Dave Gettleman and Kevin Abrams for this opportunity. Over the past couple of days we had great conversations about where this team is and where it is headed and how we are going to get there. My job is to lead our players and coaches. The mission is clear, to win games. There is a process to reaching that objective, and we will implement that process and work that process starting today.”

“Joe has prepared for this moment and is ready for the challenge of leading our team,” said Gettleman, the Giants’ general manager. “His beliefs and principles are all about the team. Because of his background with special teams working under Bill Belichick, he has had the experience of evaluating and managing the entire roster. Can’t wait to work with him.”

And we’re off….

New York Giants ripped by Colin Cowherd after Joe Judge hiring

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New York Giants, Joe Judge

The New York Giants didn’t take the usual route in hiring a new head coach. Instead, they settled for a dark horse candidate after losing out on two experienced options in Ron Rivera and Mike McCarthy, not to mention college-guru, Matt Rhule.

However, the hiring of Joe Judge, who has won three Super Bowls and two National Championships during his career, shouldn’t be overlooked. Judge is an extremely detail-oriented coach with elite preparation skills and disciplinary tactics, gained from his time under Bill Belichick.

While Judge seems to have a stellar resume on paper, it’s yet to be seen if he can handle the workload of being a head coach and the responsibilities that accompany the job.

One critic, Colin Cowherd, ripped the New York Giants for their seemingly rushed move, stating:

“The Giants panicked. This was a bad move to me… A once proud organization that has patted themselves on the back too long.”

Cowherd feels as if the selection was a reach, which is justified after the Giants entered contract negotiations the night before Rhule was expected to interview in New Jersey. Being positive is one thing, but the reality of the situation is confusing, based on the simple fact that Judge wasn’t a primary candidate until his background was exposed after his hiring.

Judge’s success speaks for itself, though, as Belichick played an instrumental role in his hiring by the Giants. A glaring review of the special team’s coordinator and WR coach went a long way, and Cowherd may be right with the panicked selection, but we won’t know until the 2020 season comes along.

New York Giants: 3 things Joe Judge needs to accomplish this offseason

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New York Giants, Joe Judge

The New York Giants hired their third head coach in four years on Tuesday morning, bringing in New England Patriots’ WR coach and special teams coordinator, Joe Judge.

New England head coach, Bill Belichick, has advocated for the hiring of special teams coordinators, considering they interact with every unit and are involved in the game plan across the board. Judge, who boasted a special teams unit that ranked no worse than 10th over a five-year tenure, seems to be a great fit with the Giants.

Now, it boils down to three essentials that New York Giants new HC Joe Judge must consider this offseason.

Big Blue View’s Ed Valentine detailed three different steps:

1.) Hiring the right staff

Judge is going to be a CEO-type coach. He is going to need quality offensive and defensive coordinators he trusts to run those groups. It wouldn’t hurt if one or both of those coordinators, or at least someone on staff that Judge knows and trusts, has been a head coach before and can help him navigate the minefield of thing he has never dealt with before.

Judge hasn’t served as an offensive or defensive coordinator in the past, which might be a good thing for the Giants, who are looking for their coach to instill discipline across the board and not falter in any specific category. Jason Garrett has emerged as a potential offensive coordinator, and Kris Richards would be a fantastic option on defense.

Getting Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley to buy-in:

John Mara said when he undertook the search for this head coach that someone who could develop Jones, the player entrusted with being the franchise quarterback, was paramount. Jones seemed despondent when Shurmur was fired.

This is an essential factor that Ed hits on in his article. Having Barkley and Jones on board with Judge is important, and maximizing their skill-set is even more so. Whoever Judge brings in at OC must be creative and modern with their approach.

Be himself, not a mini-Belichick:

“He’s very intense. Joe is really passionate about what he does,” Patriots special-teams captain Matthew Slater said in a 2017 story by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “He has a hyperattention to detail; there is no stone unturned by the time we get to the game, and we feel super prepared and know he’s going to put us in position to make plays. As a player, that’s all you can ask for. And you have to appreciate the energy and passion with which he coaches. I think it really carries over to us as players. We love going out there and playing for him, and for each other.”

Judge sounds eerily similar to Belichick in this description, and that’s a good thing when it comes to preparation. However, he must create his style and develop a modernized way of dealing with these social-media infused athletes.

New York Giants Head Coach Joe Judge To Pick His Coaching Staff

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New York Giants, Joe Judge

The New York Giants made a somewhat quick and surprising decision recently to hire Patriots special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach Joe Judge as their next head coach, amid speculation that the team was going to go for Matt Rhule or a number of other options who have a stronger reputation, but their hiring period isn’t over. The Giants still need to rebuild at the coordinator positions after the last couple of seasons showed just how much bad coordinators can hurt the success of a team.

There’s been some mention of the Giants possibly going for Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator, but there’s also conflicting reports coming out that will make many fans who are firmly in the anti-Garrett camp breathe a sigh of relief. According to Ralph Vacchiano, the Giants didn’t interview Garrett to become the offensive coordinator and Judge will be able to pick his own staff.

Notably, that means the responsibility of finding the right coordinators isn’t going to fall on the shoulders of General Manager Dave Gettleman, which is something of an encouraging sign. This offseason, it was a frequently brought up point that the Giants will have to give more control to the head coach rather than the GM to get a good coach on the market, and it looks like that’s what the organization is doing right now – at least on this matter.

Of course, as an outsider candidate for the head coaching job, Judge doesn’t have as well known a list of preferred candidates for the coordinator positions as some of the others who the Giants were linked to earlier. Who will end up linked to those roles in the coming days? That’s something we’ll all find out soon.

New York Giants: Getting To Know New Head Coach Joe Judge

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New York Giants, Joe Judge

The New York Giants have officially found their head coach. No, they did not land Matt Rhule, as all fans hoped and expected them to. Instead, the Giants went with a much different candidate- Joe Judge from the New England Patriots.

The Joe Judge hiring came as a massive surprise to many fans and reporters alike. Rhule was expected to be the Giants’ top choice, followed by the likes of Josh McDaniels and Eric Bienemy. However, the Giants must not have given out accurate information since it is now being reported that they were working on a deal with Judge last night before even meeting with Matt Rhule (Adam Schefter).

This is a shocking hire. The Giants did have the opportunity to match Matt Rhule’s contract offer, but they declined (Ian Rapoport). Instead, the Giants hired Joe Judge, the New England Patriots special times/wide receivers coach whom they interviewed just yesterday. As one of the lesser-known names in the pool of candidates, Giants fans will need to read up on Joe Judge and get to know the man that is replacing Pat Shurmur.

A Ringing Endorsement From Bill Belichick

According to Tom Rock of Newsday, the Giants did call Bill Belichick about their vacant head coach position. However, they were not calling Bill to lure the 67-year-old legend back to New Jersey. Instead, they were calling for Bill’s opinion on prospective 38-year-old candidate Joe Judge. As Tom Rock states, “Bill gave a glowing recommendation to the Giants on Joe Judge.”

Bill Belichick recognized early on what he had in Joe Judge. He knew that Judge was head coach-material. According to Ian Rapoport, Belichick met with Joe Judge “on a regular basis to go over program-building and what it takes to become a head coach.” Albert Breer points out that Belichick likely had this in mind when increasing Judge’s role and making him the wide receivers coach.

A Top Coordinator

All football fans know that the New England Patriots have been among the top teams in the NFL for the last twenty years. The Patriots accomplish this with strong attention to detail and consistently efficient football in all three phases of the game.

Joe Judge was promoted to be the Patriots’ special teams coordinator in 2015 after serving as a special teams assistant from 2012 to 2014. Since this promotion, New England has had the most consistent special teams unit in the NFL. The unit has ranked in the top ten every year since:

Joe Judge was working two jobs this season, remaining the Patriots’ special teams coach and expanding his priorities as the wide receivers coach. 2019 was Judge’s first year serving as a wide receivers coach. New England’s receiving corps faced much criticism this season, but ultimately, the lack of talent was the reason for the group’s ineptitude.

Regardless of how the Patriots’ wide receivers performed this year, it is still worth noting the amount of time required to work two major coaching jobs. Judge had a huge role in New England, and the Giants’ hiring will leave two holes in the Patriots’ coaching staff.

Learned From And Respected By The Best

Ask your friends: who is the best NFL head coach of all time? They will say, Bill Belichick. Then ask them, who is the best college football head coach of all time? They will say, Nick Saban. Now, what two coaches did Joe Judge learn from? Bill Belichick and Nick Saban.

During his last ten years of coaching under Belichick and Saban, Joe Judge has learned what it takes to be a champion. Judge has won three Super Bowls (XLIX, LI, LIII) and two BCS National Championships (2009, 2011). Being part of two of the greatest coaching staffs in the world, at both the professional and collegiate level, says a lot about the respect that Joe Judge garners.

Judge not only garners the respect of his coaching peers, but he has earned the respect of his players, too. According to Art Stapleton, players in New England “raved about Judge’s attention to detail and his intensity.” This should be music to Giants fans’ ears after they’ve dealt with two head coaches that lacked these traits for the past four years.

But What About His Coaching Staff?

One last thing to note with Joe Judge (and this could be a positive or a negative) is the uncertainty surrounding his coaching staff. It was initially reported that the Giants were considering former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett for their offensive coordinator position. However, that report has been debunked. Joe Judge will get to pick his own staff, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.

Still, it is hard to make any guesses as to whom Judge might bring onto his staff in other key positions, such as offensive/defensive coordinator and offensive line coach. But for a young and inexperienced first-time head coach, getting the right pieces around him will be crucial.

Joe Judge is a well-respected coach that has learned from the best head coaches in all of football. This is a risky, forward-thinking hiring by the New York Giants, taking a chance on a first-time head coach. But if Joe Judge can successfully install the Patriot Way in New Jersey and get an adequate coaching staff around him, the Giants will reap the rewards of their progressive decision.

Giants Coach Hiring Timeline Becoming Clearer

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New York Giants, Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys

The timeline behind the New York Giants hiring process of hiring their new head coach, Joe Judge, is finally coming together.

There has been confusion about several aspects. First, did Matt Rhule not come to New Jersey for his interview because he knew the Giants were blown away by Judge? And…did he really ask the Giants to try to match the massive deal the Panthers floated in front of him?

No one has come forward to confirm the authenticity of either rumor but they’re likely close to the truth. Another rumor that was circulating was the one regarding Jason Garrett being discussed as Judge’s offensive coordinator. We now know that was just a rumor.

There were a lot of caveats in hiring Rhule. First off, the Giants would have to pay Baylor, Rhule’s current employer, a buyout fee in the neighborhood of $10 million. Then, there was the issue of Sean Ryan, Rhule’s preferred choice for offensive coordinator. But there’s more, per Rotoworld.

A quick agreement from both sides also entails the 44-year-old has CEO duties, especially since Panthers owner David Tepper has reportedly agreed to help Rhule build a sports science/recovery program similar to the one he created at Baylor. Current Lions QBs coach Sean Ryan was Rhule’s choice for OC last year, so expect the former to jump ship in the coming days.

The Giants are leery about allowing the head coach the full authority to hire his own staff. That may be the reason they hired another first-time head coach. The word is that they will give Judge that authority but it doesn’t fit with the recent way they’ve been operating.